The Best Concerts to See in L.A. This Week

FlosstradamusSHRINE EXPO HALL Chi-Town DJ duo Flosstradamus is all over the map right about now, including recent top spots at Coachella, HARD and Lollapalooza. Their madly mashed-up style jumps straight outta trap into the mosh pit, with an ultra-tweaked hodgepodge of hip-hop, Euro-dance, humpin’ house and buzzsaw techno. The Floss fellas’ infamous live sets are a massive adrenaline rush of eye-gouging visuals and even more major mind massage, owing to their choice distinction of being genuinely funny and streetwise at the same time. In short, they can jam, oh, approximately 100 ideas into supreme spaces of excitement for the entire hoodie nation. Also: GTA, Branchez and Curtis Williams with Two-9. — John Payne

Tuesday, December 30

Together PangeaTHE ECHO Together Pangea made quite a mark in 2014: They released their second full-length album, Badillac, moved to Harvest Records, became a major plot point on NCIS: Los Angeles and toured Europe. With the announcement of the Burgerama Four lineup, where TP will share the stage with Weezer, Ty Segall and many more, this opportunity to see these party animals on a smaller stage will be a beer-drenched treat. If you haven’t gotten your fill of fist-pumping sing-alongs, crowd surfing and stage diving for 2014, this is your chance. Newbie riot locals No Parents and Audacity support this pre-NYE celebration that you will certainly enjoy but may not remember. — Britt Witt

Wednesday, December 31

Tyler, the CreatorCLUB NOKIA On the heels of his successful Camp Flog Gnaw carnival/concert event, Tyler, the Creator could be forgiven if he wanted to spend New Year’s Eve relaxing at home. Instead, his legions of supporters and likely many of his closest friends will be watching him perform at Club Nokia. Though he’s played dates sporadically across 2014, this is the Odd Future impresario’s chance to say goodbye to yet another successful year, as his brand continues to boldly move beyond alternative hip-hop. As at other local shows, don’t be surprised if the 23-year-old summons his many friends and collaborators for guest appearances. Love him or hate him, the outspoken frontman’s shows are as unpredictable and wild as any in the city, which will ensure his rabid fans a raucous time celebrating the dawn of 2015. — Daniel Kohn

Fitz & the Tantrums will headline a New Year's Eve street party in Downtown Long Beach.

Courtesy of BB Gun Press

Fitz & the TantrumsPINE AVE., DOWNTOWN LONG BEACH Fitz and the Tantrums’ first album — 2010’s Dangerbird release Pickin’ Up the Pieces — was an obsessively reverent reincarnation of the 1960s northern soul sound, with all the harmonies and hooks in the exact correct places and plenty of charisma up front, courtesy of singers Fitz and Noelle. In fact, you might not have even noticed that they didn’t have a guitar player. Newest album and major-label debut More Than Just a Dream, however, left the planet of northern soul far behind for a slick, neo-’70s sound that lands somewhere between Hall & Oates and chart-topping alt-pop such as Foster the People. This extremely celebratory gig in the middle of Long Beach’s Pine Avenue is a perfect venue for their revamped sound — surely they’ll get people dancing in the actual streets. — Chris Ziegler

HelmetVIPER ROOM Even if you haven’t heard Helmet on the radio recently, you’ve heard their influence; the New York quartet’s signature down-tuned, staccato riffing seeps into everything from Nine Inch Nails and Tool to Deftones and Pantera. With their minor-key melancholy, disconcerting grooves and dissonant guitars more apocalyptic than optimistic (and a dressed-down image better suited to a suburban kegger than a Sunset Strip celebration), this earnest outfit may seem an odd choice as a New Year’s Eve party act. But for anyone remotely interested in the past quarter-century of hard rock, even Helmet’s lesser-known songs are stuffed with warmly familiar (if sonically cold) musical motifs. Celebrating 25 years of making a uniquely uncomfortable and confrontational racket, Helmet could trigger NYE hangovers before midnight. — Paul Rogers

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The Controllers, Man-Wray, The Mormons, The GypzCafe NELA If you’re in the mood for a blast of primal, early L.A. punk, you won’t find a more authentic band than The Controllers. Not only were they the first group to play at Hollywood’s notorious Masque club in the late 1970s but they were also among the earliest bands to combine the raw power of their native Michigan roots (Stooges, The MC5) with the faster, curter sonic reductions of The Ramones. Songs such as “Suburban Suicide” transplanted Iggy Pop’s nihilism to a ruthlessly bleak version of the San Fernando Valley, punching you in the gut with serpentine yet heavy riffs. The Controllers decried the neutron bomb even before The Weirdos did, and their unsentimental arrangement of Frankie Laine’s “Jezebel” set the template for such simpatico modern acolytes as The Mormons, demented contrarians Man-Wray and rabidly feral Gears spinoff The Gypz. — Falling James